What The 2026 NHL All-Star Rosters Would Have Looked Like

This season, there won't be any NHL All-Star festivities due to the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. There were also no all-star events last year, which were replaced by another international tournament, the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The next scheduled All-Star Weekend will be in 2027, hosted by the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.

Nonetheless, it can still be assumed what each division's all-star team would look like going into this Olympic break.

For the 2023 All-Star Game, each division had nine skaters and two goaltenders. For these hypothetical 2026 all-star rosters, I'll be following the same format, with each team getting at least one representative.

Skaters:

Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning

Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens

Lane Hutson, Montreal Canadiens

Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres

David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins

William Nylander, Toronto Maple Leafs

Tim Stutzle, Ottawa Senators

Lucas Raymond, Detroit Red Wings

Brad Marchand, Florida Panthers

Goaltenders:

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

There aren't too many major controversial takes on the table for this team. There are arguments to be made about Florida's and Ottawa's representatives with Sam Reinhart and Brady Tkachuk, but I decided to go with Brad Marchand and Tim Stutzle, respectively.

The Canadiens could've had a third player go to the All-Star Game in right winger Cole Caufield, but there's only so much space for one team to bring so many players.

Funny enough, the two goaltenders who would go for the Atlantic Division team were just in a goalie fight at the 2026 Stadium Series between the Lightning and Bruins. Hopefully, there won't be bad blood between Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jeremy Swayman in the dressing room.

Skaters:

Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets

Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes

Mika Zibanejad, New York Rangers

Nico Hischier, New Jersey Devils

Travis Konecny, Philadelphia Flyers

Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders

Matthew Schaefer, New York Islanders

Goaltenders:

Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders

Logan Thompson, Washington Capitals

Some legendary talent to put on display on the Metropolitan Division team. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin headline this roster, with over 20 combined NHL All-Star Game appearances.

In addition, they have arguably the best goaltending of any NHL division. Ilya Sorokin leads the league in shutouts with six, along with a .916 save percentage, and Logan Thompson, representing Canada at the Olympics, has a .912 SP.

Goaltender Brandon Bussi deserves some credit for how he's stood tall between the pipes for the Hurricanes this season, but Sorokin and Thompson are among the league's best.

And don't forget about the 18-year-old Matthew Schaefer, who would potentially make his NHL all-star debut in what is his rookie season.

Skaters:

Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

Mikko Rantanen, Dallas Stars

Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild

Quinn Hughes, Minnesota Wild

Connor Bedard, Chicago Blackhawks

Clayton Keller, Utah Mammoth

Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets

Pavel Buchnevich, St. Louis Blues

Roman Josi, Nashville Predators

Goaltenders:

Scott Wedgewood, Colorado Avalanche

Spencer Knight, Chicago Blackhawks

Throughout this exercise, the toughest team to map out is certainly this Central Division roster. That's no surprise, considering that division contains three of the league's top five teams in the Avalanche, Wild and Stars.

With that, Avs defenseman Cale Makar was regrettably left off this list to make room for Quinn Hughes and Kirill Kaprizov. There's an argument to be had there, but Hughes has more points than Makar in fewer games, and Kaprizov has the seventh most points in the NHL.

Jets' goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is another star left off this team. Colorado's Scott Wedgewood and Chicago's Spencer Knight take the goaltender spots, as they have posted better numbers, while Hellebuyck has missed time with injury.

Skaters:

Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers

Evan Bouchard, Edmonton Oilers

Mark Stone, Vegas Golden Knights

Jack Eichel, Vegas Golden Knights

Artemi Panarin, Los Angeles Kings

Macklin Celebrini, San Jose Sharks

Filip Hronek, Vancouver Canucks

Nazem Kadri, Calgary Flames

Goaltenders:

Joey Daccord, Seattle Kraken

Lukas Dostal, Anaheim Ducks

Three members of the Oilers highlight this Pacific Division All-Star Team. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are no-brainers to be picked for the All-Star Game, but Evan Bouchard also comes along from Edmonton as the highest-scoring defenseman in the NHL.

The Golden Knights see Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, as they've been having spectacular seasons. Eichel is on his way to earn the first 100-point season of his career, and Stone isn't far off from tracking his own century mark either.

For the Kings, Artemi Panarin would be going to the All-Star Game before even playing a game for his new team.

And the impressive 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini would be making his first appearance at All-Star Weekend.

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